Since its inception, YWN has never called for the ouster of an elected candidate, Republican or Democrat. That changes today. It is our firm belief that Gov. Kathy Hochul’s stance toward the Orthodox Jewish community in New York are such that she must be replaced. Our position comes not only from her failing to publicly stand up for the rights of yeshivas, but especially because of what we have seen from the governor in private. Several weeks ago, YWN was contacted by the Hochul campaign, which offered to conduct an exclusive interview with the governor. This offer was surprising on several fronts: firstly, it is well know that YWN rarely conducts interviews promoting specific positions, especially ones from political candidates. Of the 2 million-plus articles that have been published on YWN, barely a handful are interviews. The second and primary reason for our astonishment over the interview offer was that Gov. Hochul had never before agreed to an interview with any Orthodox Jewish publication, online or in print. Why suddenly did she agree to one now? The answer, it soon came to be obvious, was to ingratiate herself to the Orthodox Jewish community without providing any evidence that she is working for them in Albany. YWN was asked to interview the governor at a location in Manhattan, but the Hochul campaign gave us just 10 minutes for questions. This in itself was ridiculous, as all know that any political candidate can take a single question and filibuster their way through an empty 10-minute answer. YWN then demanded that we get a minimum of 20 minutes to question the governor, at which point the Hochul campaign began making demands – and their motive – clear. “Please confirm [with the interviewer] that he won’t ask questions that are not good for us,” was one demand. Another was that all questions to be asked should be submitted to the Hochul campaign beforehand for review. Yet another was that the interview shouldn’t focus on the situation concerning yeshivas – literally the number one issue for Orthodox Jews in this campaign! The arrogance with which Gov. Hochul’s campaign came to the table was stunning. What the governor obviously wanted, as noted earlier, was for her image among Orthodox Jews to be rehabilitated without her actually facing a single difficult question or requiring her to make commitments to the community. This attitude toward the New York’s Orthodox Jews cannot stand, and we thus feel compelled to call for the defeat of incumbent Governor Kathy Hochul. New York’s Orthodox Jews deserve better. The YWN Editorial Team (YWN World Headquarters – NYC)
The post YWN EDITORIAL: Gov. Hochul’s Attitude Toward Orthodox Jews is Untenable; SHE MUST BE DEFEATED appeared first on The Yeshiva World.